Our Leather

Quality Materials | Designed to Last

A great pair of shoes always starts with quality raw materials. At MAESO, we want our shoes to not only look good, timeless, but also feel comfortable, gentle to the environment and last for years to come. That’s why we pay extra care when it comes to material selection.

Our shoes – uppers, lining and sock liner - are all crafted from quality full grain Vegetable Tanned leather from leading tanneries in Italy, to ensure its durability and comfort.

 

 

Why Vegetable Tanned leather?
Vegetable tanning is a traditional tanning method that uses natural materials - tannins extracted from barks of trees like oak and chestnut, fruits and leaves – to tan the leather. As this natural tanning process requires highly skilled craftsmen, is time-consuming and costly, only~10% of leather in the world is made this way.

 

The organic approach gifts the leather an earthly, woody scent; rich and warm natural colors – that is nothing but extraordinary. It’s irregularity and lack of consistency in color, is characteristic of its high quality and uniqueness. Vegetable tanned leather develops a rich natural patina that grows stronger with time, leaving every pair of shoes beautifully unique.

Vegetable tanning is also more environmentally friendly than chrome tanning, and is recyclable and biodegradable. Making it a bonus to use this leather for our handcrafted shoes!

"Pelle Conciata al Vegetale in Toscana"

We choose leather suppliers under the Genuine Italian Vegetable Tanned Leather Consortium, bearing the quality trademark “Pelle Conciata al Vegetale in Toscana” (Tuscan Vegetable Tanned Leather). Under the consortium, they ensure strict standards and monitoring on the vegetable-tanned leather production cycle to ensure a low impact on the environment:

  • No animal is killed for its skin. The raw hides used in these tanneries are by-products of the food industry producing meat for human consumption.
  • Being tanned with natural tannins, a vegetable-tanned leather object can be easily disposed of at the end of its life.
  • These tanneries have made huge investments in waste recycling that make them work in full respect of man and the environment.
  • Many of the substances used during the tanning process are recovered, recycled and reused.
  • Vegetable-tanned leather, recognizable from its trademark, does not contain any toxic substance such as azo-dyes, nickel, PCP or chrome VI

 

 

Why Full-Grain Leather?

Full-grain leather is widely recognized as the best-quality leather, and is the most beautiful and natural. It has not been sanded, painted or buffered to remove any natural marks from its surface. Be it a small mark or subtle blemishes, these natural imperfections on its hide that is acquired during the life of the calf, makes each piece unique.

The entire grain of the hide is used, making the leather more durable with care. Also, it develops a patina over time that protects the leather and also giving it an aesthetic look.